The Alliance for Change has condemned President Bharrat Jagdeo’s explanation of the reason for the recent increase in excise tax on gasoline and diesel as ludicrous.According to the party,Jerseys NFL China, the almost ridiculous conditionality that the President stipulated when he said that he will only reduce the high taxes on fuels if he sees minibus drivers reducing their fares vindicated the AFC’s position that there was a deficit of leadership on this issue for sometime now.In a release to the media yesterday, the party reiterated its call for the government and its relevant agencies, namely Guyana Revenue Authority, the Guyana Energy Agency and Guyoil, to make a reduction of fuel prices at the pumping stations happen.The party noted that President Jagdeo’s arguments that such high taxes are a price stabilizer “are most ludicrous”, questioning whether if “this is what he had in mind when he put the VAT at a rate of 16 per cent instead of 8 per cent…He will fool no one…Everyone knows that taxing fuel is for extraction from both the poor and the rich more revenues for the President and his Government to continue their misspending, extravagance and waste.”The party noted that oil prices on the international market have now dropped to remarkable lows this year to below $70 US per barrel, from a high of $147 some months ago and in all Caribbean countries this drop is reflected at the pumping station, except Guyana.It was pointed out that the government seemingly does not understand that the high prices of fuel, especially dieseline and gasoline, will direly affect not only ordinary consumers,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, like private car owners and transportation dealers, but also our farmers and fishermen and users in industry.“Industries especially can find their final product uncompetitive as a result of this high local cost when in every other Caribbean country there has been a downward swing…So farmers will find this local cost too high so as to get a competitive edge….The bad economic leadership on this fuel issue must not be allowed to continue. It is one of the root causes for the impoverishment of Guyanese.”The party also called on relevant stakeholders such as the Manufacturers’ Association and the Private Sector Commission to come out and demand a reduction in the local fuel prices, saying that their silence was almost deafening.The silence was a result of the government’s instinctive attitude of vindictiveness, adding that “Guyana’s industries today need more Yesu Persauds. Taxes are used as a mechanism for stabilising the price of a commodity”.When the price on the world market for a product such as gasoline and diesel rises, the excise tax levied against it on import will reduce and as the price falls, tax will go back up.This is according to Head of State, Bharrat Jagdeo,cheap nfl jerseys, who lashed out at the opposition parties for their comments against the recent increase in the excise tax on the two products.The excise tax on gasoline was hiked from seven to 20 per cent and diesel from zero to 14 per cent on September 4 last. “This is to ensure that we have stability in price of product.”He said that if the excise tax remained excessively low, when the price reduced on the world market “then there would be no cushion when the prices go up back.”He posited that this was the reason why gasoline was selling at the various stations for just about $1,Wholesale NFL Jerseys,000 per gallon rather than $1,600 or more per gallon.He lashed out at the critics of the increase,Cheap Jerseys NFL China, saying that “they” do not address the background to a situation.The President also said that he was prepared to lower the excise tax on gas if minibuses and taxis would drop their fares.“I am not going to pass on greater benefits to minibus operators at the expense of the consumer…I prefer to take the money and give to property related programs…Not the taxi drivers and minibus operators.”When the gas prices began to spiral out of control,Cheap Jerseys Online, the President had ordered the reduction of the excise tax on gasoline and diesel from 50 per cent, eventually to seven and zero percent respectively.Likewise, when the price of fuel on the world market dropped from an all time high of US$147 a barrel to below US$85, the excise tax was increased to 20 per cent for gas and 14 per cent for diesel. This attracted a plethora of criticism from the parliamentary opposition parties.This newspaper has also learnt that the prices at the pumps are unlikely to decrease anytime soon, given that the current supply of fuel on the markets were purchased at the increased prices and any new suppl